September 10, 2006: A Big Rebound

Looking to make a pennant run, the Fleetwood Walkers traded away Aaron Cook and Gavin Floyd to the divisional rival Cincinnati Royals in the off season. In return, the team received the rights to pay Mark Buehrle a lot of money for a long time...7 years, $28 million to be exact.

That was a high price to pay for the Walkers, but championship opportunities don't come around every season. And while Buehrle got off to a slow start for Fleetwood in 2006, he had been a star contributor since.

This game saw Aaron Cook return to Fleetwood. He would not face Buehrle, but rather Esteban Loaiza. Coming into the series, Fleetwood had won 7 games in a row. They hoped to make it 8 today.

The Walkers got off to a good start, scoring one run in the 1st inning on a Javier Valentin RBI single. In the 2nd inning, though, Marcus Giles booted a groundball that should have been the second out of the inning. Two walks a single soon followed, and Cincinnati had scored two unearned runs and taken the lead.

As it turns out, the Cincinnati lead was short lived. Giles atoned for his error quickly, hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the 2nd inning to tie the game 2-2. Derrek Lee followed with a home run the next inning, and Fleetwood grabbed a one-run lead.

Both pitchers settled down, but Loaiza in particular was impressive. He pitched 6 innings, allowing no earned runs in the process. Fleetwood strong bullpen then took control, throwing three scoreless innings.

Marcus Giles would later add an RBI double, ending the day 3-4 with a 2B and a HR.

---

BOXSCORE: 2006 Cincinnati Royals At 2006 Fleetwood Walkers          9/10/2006
Gm 1: Giles commits a costly error in 2nd, but atones with a HR and two 2Bs.
 
  Royals             AB  R  H RBI AVG     Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  C.Figgins CF        4  0  1  0 .282     D.Dejesus LF        4  1  1  0 .265  
  R.Klesko LF         4  0  1  0 .249     D.Wright DH         4  0  0  0 .290  
  J.Piedra RF         4  0  0  0 .313   H-R.Doumit PH         1  0  0  0 .212  
  C.Everett DH        4  0  0  0 .243     D.Lee 1B            4  1  2  1 .300  
  M.Stairs 1B         4  1  0  0 .258     M.Cabrera 3B        4  0  1  0 .324  
  J.Lopez C           3  0  0  0 .202   I-L.Matos RF          0  0  0  0 .294  
C-M.Alou PH           1  0  0  0 .311     J.Valentin C        4  0  1  1 .332  
D-A.Melhuse C         0  0  0  0 .183     J.Edmonds CF        2  1  1  0 .255  
  D.Murphy 2B         1  1  0  0 .125     J.Guillen RF        3  0  0  0 .287  
J-C.Woodward PH       1  0  0  0 .269   E-B.Bonds PH          0  0  0  0 .250  
  C.Koskie 3B         2  0  0  0 .300   F-R.Zimmerman PH,3B   1  1  1  1 .471  
  O.Infante SS        2  0  1  2 .191     C.Counsell SS       3  0  1  0 .233  
A-R.Palmeiro PH       1  0  1  0 .253   G-B.Crosby PH,SS      0  0  0  0 .317  
B-W.Bergolla SS       0  0  0  0 .222     M.Giles 2B          4  1  3  2 .278  
K-J.Fiorentino PH     0  0  0  0 .000                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      31  2  4  2                 Totals      34  5 11  5
 
A-Pinch Hit For Infante In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Palmeiro In 7th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Lopez In 8th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Alou In 8th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Guillen In 8th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Bonds In 8th Inning
G-Pinch Hit For Counsell In 8th Inning
H-Pinch Hit For Wright In 8th Inning
I-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Cabrera In 9th Inning
J-Pinch Hit For Murphy In 9th Inning
K-Pinch Hit For Bergolla In 9th Inning
 
Royals.......... 0 2 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  2  4  2
Walkers......... 1 1 1  0 0 0  0 2    -  5 11  1
 
Royals (60-84)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
A.Cook LOSS(3-6)          6       8   3   3   3   1   2   5.92  A1 D2
L.Ayala                   1       1   1   1   0   1   0   4.55  D3 D6
R.King                    0       1   1   1   0   0   0   7.88  D7 D7
R.Betancourt              1       1   0   0   0   1   0   3.60  D8
Totals                    8      11   5   5   3   3   2
 
Walkers (107-45)         IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
E.Loaiza WIN(19-5)        6       3   2   0   5   5   0   3.51  A1 C9
S.Downs HOLD(20th)        1       0   0   0   1   0   0   2.01  D1 D3
A.Rhodes HOLD(15th)       0 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.25  D4 D5
D.Turnbow SAVE(25th)      1 1/3   1   0   0   1   2   0   2.93  D6
Totals                    9       4   2   0   7   7   0
 
ATTENDANCE- 36,636 DATE- Wednesday, September 10th 2006 TIME- Night WEATHER- Bad
T- 3:02
LEFT ON BASE- Royals: 9  Walkers: 9
DOUBLE PLAYS- Royals: 2  Walkers: 1
ERRORS- D.Murphy, A.Cook, M.Giles
DOUBLES- R.Palmeiro(11th), J.Edmonds(37th), R.Zimmerman(12th), M.Giles-2(38th)
HOME RUNS- D.Lee(44th), M.Giles(17th)
SACRIFICE HITS- B.Crosby
WALKS- C.Figgins, R.Klesko, D.Murphy-2, C.Koskie-2, J.Fiorentino, D.Dejesus,
       J.Edmonds-2
STRIKE OUTS- C.Figgins, C.Everett-2, M.Stairs, C.Woodward, C.Koskie-2, R.Doumit,
             D.Lee, J.Edmonds
GIDP- R.Klesko, D.Wright, J.Guillen